| Office | Minister of Education |
|---|---|
| Term start | 3 March 2025 |
| Chancellor | Christian Stocker |
| Predecessor | Martin Polaschek |
| Office 1 | Vice Mayor and Deputy Governor of Vienna |
| Term start 1 | 24 November 2020 |
| Term end 1 | 3 March 2025 |
| Predecessor 1 | Birgit Hebein |
| Successor 1 | Bettina Emmerling |
| Office 3 | Deputy Leader of NEOS – The New Austria |
| Term start 3 | 1 August 2021 |
| Predecessor 3 | Nikolaus Scherak Sepp Schellhorn |
| Office 4 | Leader of the NEOS – The New Austria in the Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna |
| Term start 4 | 27 September 2018 |
| Term end 4 | 11 October 2020 |
| Predecessor 4 | Beate Meinl-Reisinger |
| Successor 4 | Bettina Emmerling |
| Office 5 | Member of the Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna |
| Term start 5 | 11 October 2015 |
| Term end 5 | 24 November 2020 |
| Birth date | 12 April 1990 (age 36) |
| Birth name | Christoph Wiederkehr |
| Birth place | Salzburg |
| Party | NEOS – The New Austria |
Christoph Wiederkehr (born 12 April 1990) is an Austrian politician of the NEOS. Since March 2025, he has served as Minister for Education in the Stocker government. He previously served as vice-mayor and deputy governor of Vienna from 2020 to 2025.
Personal life
Wiederkehr passed the Matura at the College Borromaeum Salzburg in 2009. He then went to Vienna, where he began studying political science at the University of Vienna. He spent semesters abroad attending the University of Sussex and the Australian National University. In Australia, he was an intern at the Austrian Embassy in Canberra from October to December 2012. In 2013 he obtained his Bachelor's degree and later a Master of Arts. He has worked at the Constitutional Court since 2013.[1]
Political career
Wiederkehr was chairman of the NEOS student association from September 2013 to June 2015. Since November 2015 he has been chairman of the youth organization JUNOS.
Wiederkehr was one of five NEOS deputies elected to the Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna in the 2015 Viennese state election. In September 2018, he succeeded Beate Meinl-Reisinger as the parliamentary leader of NEOS in Vienna.[2] In December, he was elected state party spokesman.[3]
In December 2019, Wiederkehr was announced as NEOS's lead candidate for the 2020 Viennese state election.[4] The party won 7.5% of votes and eight seats in the election, an improvement from its 2015 result. Wiederkehr successfully brought NEOS into negotiations with the ruling Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) afterwards, who agreed to a coalition government. This marks the first time NEOS has cooperated with the SPÖ on the state level. Wiederkehr was sworn in as Vice Mayor of Vienna and City Councillor for Education on 24 November.[5]
In June 2021, Wiederkehr was elected as federal deputy leader of NEOS, alongside Andrea Klambauer.[6]
In 2025, following the 2024 legislative elections, Wiederkehr was appointed Minister for Education in the ÖVP-SPÖ-NEOS coalition government.
References
- ^ "CV Christoph Wiederkehr, MA". Vienna Government.
- ^ "Return of the new NEOS Vienna club boss". ORF. 5 July 2018.
- ^ "Wiederkehr is the new NEOS country spokesman". ORF. 8 December 2018.
- ^ "Christoph Wiederkehr elected Vienna's top candidate for Neos". Der Standard. 25 July 2020.
- ^ "New city government is sworn in". ORF. 24 November 2020. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- ^ "Meinl-Reisinger re-elected as Neos chairwoman" (in German). Die Presse. 19 June 2021.